AP Psychology: Cognition & Memory | MUHS | Parsons

Cognition

Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, & communicating

Meta-cognition

Thinking about thinking; tracking & evaluating mental processes

Prototypes

A mental image or best example of a category which provides a quick and easy method for sorting items into categories and can help organize unfamiliar items by finding an apropiate category.

Schemas

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Concepts

a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

Accommodation

Alter the schema to include the new information

Assimilation

Trying to add something to your schema

Convergent thinking

Narrows down the solutions to the single best option

Divergent thinking

Expanding the number of possible problem solutions (brainstorm)

Creativity

Ability to produce new and valuable ideas

Factors involved: Imagination, ventrous, intrinsic motivation, creative environment

Executive Functions

Mental skills used everyday to learn, work, and manage daily life.

Algorithms

Step by step strategy that leads to a specific solution

Heuristic

Step-saving strategy which generates a quick solution

Insight

Sudden realization; a leap forward in thinking that leads to a solution

Trial & Error

Trying various possible solutions, and if it fails, trying others

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions

Mental Set (fixation)

inability to see a problem from a new perspective

Functional Fixedness

Using something for a task that it usually isn’t used for

Overconfidence

Our tendency to be more confident in our abilities than is objectively justified

Belief Perseverance

Maintaining a belief even after it has been proven wrong

Framing

People reacting different depending on how you present it

Representative heuristics

judgements based on how well they match our prototypes

Gambler’s Fallacy

Incorrect assumptions; The odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn’t occured recently

Availability heuristics

judgements based on availability- what comes readily to mind; sometimes based upon our more recent experience

Memory

Any induction that learning has persisted over time; It is our ability to encode, store, and retrieve information

Recall

Retrieving information that is not currently in your conscious awareness but that was learned at an earlier time.

Recognition

Identifying items previously learned

Relearning

Assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

Encode

The process of getting information into the memory system

Store

The process of retaining information overtime

Retrieve

The process of getting information out of memory storage

Parallel processing

Human ability to address multiple aspects simultaneously

Sensory Memory

The immediate very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

Duration: less than ½ - a few seconds

Capacity: Unlimited

Iconic

stuff you see

Echoic

stuff you hear

Short-Term Memory

Activated memory that holds a few (5-9) itmes briefly (10-30 seconds) before the information is stored or forgotten

Duration: 20 seconds- 20 minutes

Capacity: 7 +\-2

Long-Term Memory

The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

Duration: Unlimited

Capacity: Unlimited

Working Memory

A newer understanding of short-term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual information and data retrieved from long-term memory

The Central Executive

Responsible for distributing resources between the two loops

Phonological Loop

Briefly holds auditory info

Visuospatial Sketchpad

briefly holds objects’ appearance & location in space; visualize and manipulate visual and spatial information in our mind

Prospective Memory

The ability to remember to carry out intended actions in the future

Neurogenesis

ability to create new neurons

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

An increase in cell firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation

Implicit Memories

Memory without conscious recall (non-declarative)
Processed in cerebellum and basal ganglia

Explicit Memories

Memory with conscious recall (declarative)
Processed in hippocampus and frontal lobes

Semantic

Facts and general knowledge

Episodic

Personally experienced events

Automatic Processing

implicit memory; procedural

Space, Time, Frequency

Effortful Processing

Explicit Memories

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, managable units: often occurs automatically

Mnemonics

memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

Hierarchies

Complex information broken down into broad concepts and further subdivied into categories and sub-categories.

Massed practice

Learning a large amount of material in a single session; less effective than distributed practice

Distributed Practice

The most effective technique to enhance encoding

Spacing effect

The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through mass study/practice

Testing effect

Enchanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information

Method of Loci

Involves associating information with visual imagery in familiar spatial environments

Shallow Processing

Encodes on an elementary level, such as word’s letters or, at a more intermediate level, a words sound

Semantic/Deep Processing

Encodes semantically, based on the meaning of the words

Elaborative rehearsal

the process of using active thinking about the meaning of the term that needs to be remembered rather than just repeating the word/information over and over again.

Hippocampus (& frontal lobes)

Processes Explict memories

Cerebellum

Processes implicit memories

Basal Ganglia

Processes motor movement & skill

Amygdala

Triggered by stress hormones and boosts activity in the memory processes (emotional memories)

Memory consolidation

The neural storage or long-term memory, allows for more to be stored by only keeping the most crucial details

Flashbulb memories

Clear, sustained memories of an emotionally significant moments or events

Priming

The activation often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Context-dependent memory/Encoding Specificity Principle

The activation of memory when one returns to the setting of the original encoding

Mood-congruent memory

The tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.

State-dependent memory

The tendency to recall expierences that are consistent with the state in which a person was at the time of encoding.

Serial Position effect

Our tendency to best remember the items at the beggining and end of a list

Recency effect

Better recall at the end of list

Primacy effect

better recall at the start of list

Testing effect

Repeated self-testing (MQs) and rehearsal of previously studied material

Interleaving

a learning strategy that talks about taking two subjects and learning about them simultaneously

Retrograde Amnesia

An inability to recall past memory

Anterograde

an inability to form new memories

Encoding failure

didn’t pay attention well enough to properlly create the memory

Storage decay

Memory has faded over time

Retroactive Interference

The backwords disruptive effect of newer learning on old information

Proactive Interference

The forward acting disruptive effect of older learning on the recall of new information

Repression

Purposely losing a memory

Constructive memory

The process by which memories are formed and recalled, often influenced by existing knowledge and beliefs, leading to potential distortions.

Misinformation effect (research of Elizabeth LOFTUS)

states that a person recall of an event is negatively impacted and becomes less accurate due to information after the event.

Source Amnesia

Impaired memory to how, where, or when information was learned despite good memory for the information itself.

Deja Vu

the eerie sense that you have experienced something before; cues from a current expierences may unconsiously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

Alzheimer’s Disease

A progression and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical function

Infantile amnesia

experience of not consciously remembering the first three years of our lives (we do recall skills & reactions)